The present disclosure relates to a continuous web or sheet of anodized aluminum including an improved coating and a method for manufacturing the same.
Anodized aluminum is used in a variety of architectural applications. For example, due to its corrosion and weather resistance, anodized aluminum sheets are used on building exteriors. Anodized aluminum sheets also are used in interior architectural applications. Interior architectural components such as walls, back splashes, partitions, door knobs and table tops can be manufactured from sheets of anodized aluminum.
A problem with anodized aluminum sheets is that the surfaces of the sheets are highly hydrophilic. Therefore, water-born microbes and pathogens frequently become joined with the architectural anodized aluminum sheets. This can become problematic because installed interior architectural sheets are touched or contacted by many different people. In cases where the anodized aluminum sheet is infrequently washed, and where microbes and pathogens are given the opportunity to grow on the surface of the anodized aluminum, the anodized aluminum sheet can become a transfer agent for those microbes and pathogens. This can lead to an unnecessary health hazard.